Swindon's Countdown contestant reveals what host Colin Murray is really like

Shad Chokdar also shared his opinions about the game show's famous presenters.

The 31-year-old wowed Countdown hosts with his nail-biting debut contest against five-time champion John Aziz last week.

He came away victorious with 111 points to John's 110 and went on to win another show before losing his third.

Host Colin Murray, who took over from Anne Robinson, described the Wroughton challenger's first show as "absolutely sensational" and "one of the all-time greatest debuts on Countdown".

Channel 4 (Image: Channel 4)

And it seems Shad was a fan of Murray too. When he applied for the show, Robinson was still at the helm but the Swindon badminton player says he was happy he ended up with Murray.

"I'm quite glad I got Colin as Anne Robinson can be quite harsh. He was absolutely lovely to every single contestant. 

"He was incredibly kind and made people feel welcome. 

"The experience was fantastic. It was really well organised." 

Shad grew up in Swindon and moved to Wroughton for secondary school, attending Ridgeway School.

Alongside his job, Shad is a familiar face around Wroughton because he helps out with his dad's takeaway Bombay Spice Swindon.

He has always been a Countdown enthusiast - even as a child.

Image: Channel 4 (Image: Channel 4)

"As children, we'd watch it and I would try to think of three-letter words. That increased to six-letter words when I was older.

"I've wanted to go on the show for ages because I'm quite good at mental maths.

"Over the pandemic, my friend and I watched quite a lot of Countdown.

"I work from home so sometimes, during your break, you watch 15 minutes here or there."

Fans of the popular programme may not know that multiple episodes are filmed on the same day.

Although Shad appeared on three shows, these were all filmed on one day.

"You get to watch a recording of the previous episode and I thought I was in with a chance.

"Filming was back-to-back so by the third episode I was making really simple errors which cost me the game.

"I remember between the second and third episodes, I had a five-minute break because we were behind on schedule.

"I became tired really quickly and my performance went downhill."

Shad had gone in hoping to win the famous Countdown teapot and 80 points and came away happy with his results.

"Hopefully I’ve inspired other British Bangladeshis to go on the show," he added.